Are we witnessing the end of sport or sports with a difference?

Football in England: Wikipedia

Sports as we know it has come to hault. The world of sports has taken a major hit with this pandemic. There is no date on when sports is to return back to normal. With sporting events on hold people are getting bored not having anything to watch and look forward to when the weekend comes. However this is the time to introduce a new sports which can be played without having a physical interaction and this is called Esports. Eurogamer.net has announced the EAhas "revealed FIFA 20" FUT Team of the season.

Olympics and Euro postponed by a year

We have no specific date when "football will return". With the Olympics and Euro 2020 postponed by a year June will be free from football as well so if the pandemic is over by then it will be in a position to resume. Yesterday UEFA has announced that the two major competitions which are the champions league and Europa league will be "played in August" but in another format and possibly with reduced fixtures. UEFA came up with two options with the first being to play 2 legs in July and august and the second option is to reduce the quarter finals and semi finals to one leg and it will become a a week-long mini tournament.

Formula 1 also on hold

Formula 1, the sport that I love the most. With football on hold the focus has shifted to esports and not just in football but in other sports like Formula 1. Formula 1 has launched a virtual grand prix series "to replace" the postponed races of the 2020 season which is still yet to start. This is an opportunity for non-real drivers to actually shine and beat the real drivers at least virtually. Julian Tan, Head of Digital Business Initiatives and Esports said:

“We are very pleased to be able to bring some light relief in the form of the F1 Esports Virtual GP, in these unpredictable times, as we hope to entertain fans missing the regular sporting action. With every major sports league in the world unable to compete, it is a great time to highlight the benefits of esports and the incredible skill that’s on show.”

Julian Tan, Head of Digital Business Initiatives and Esports said: “We are very pleased to be able to bring some light relief in the form of the F1 Esports Virtual GP, in these unpredictable times.

The Formula 1 directors are still not sure when the season will kick off but what they are sure about is that they will race behind close doors like other sport. At the moment there are no talks about the cancellation of all the 2020 season in which F1 will take a sabbatical year due to the pandemic.

But although all these cancellations live sport have returned still with "Darts Championship". The PDC has agreed that darts can be played from home as it one of the sports which does not require a group of individuals being together and broadcasted via camera on to a website.

Maltese Football

Basically Maltese football really can resume back to normal. Some say that the pandemic has not hit us at all in Malta, others say that as a nation we were so clever that we were able to fight the pandemic better than other countries. Unfortunately I cannot say which is the true version. But what we know for sure is that before the pandemic we only had between 100 and 200 people going to the National Stadium in Ta' Qali so it would not be a hit for all if Maltese football resumes behind closed doors. The Belarus Premier League has never stopped but they are still playing behind close doors and the Korea Republic league has started this weekend amid behind closed doors. 

The Maltese committee said they would be meeting on May 18 to have a "final decision" about what the Malta football association (MFA) is going to do about the Maltese Premier League and Maltese FA Trophy. I think it is too late now to decide because if it were to vote yes, than the players will have to play until the end of July which we all know that in this Maltese heat of 35 Celsius the players will be having a rough time out there playing the whole 90 minutes.

Raising Money through Sports

The world of sport is raising money at the moment to charity foundations or to NHS in the case of the UK. In fact Captain Tom Moore, who is 99 years old, has done a "100 laps" around his garden toraise money for the NHS and he has raised £23 million. He has done these laps before his 100^th birthday which he celebrated on April 30th and received also a special card from Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. Speaking to BBC Radio 2 he said the sum of money was "absolutely enormous" and very "difficult to imagine". He also thanked everyone who had donated for their support.

This is the time for you. It’s time to be creative. If a 99-year-old man can do 100 laps no can give up. With a lot of free time on our hands, get inspired and get active but remember to stay home and stay safe.